Faith In Love
by Silvine Fae Graycin
Summary: "she had to run. No one would believe her side of the story. Not when he was one of the most respected Gale Force officers in the city. They saw him as a great man of justice. But they didn't see his dark side. He was a violent drunk. and tonight, he'd almost killed her." AU. Fiyeraba. rated teen for some violence.


**so, after a long time of being gone, i am back. i know i have other fics to work on, but i am more inspired for this one rigt now. let me know if you like itand think i should continue. and please excuse and caps errors, as my shift button no longer works and i am not accustimed to useing the other one. its disorientating. i am trying to get used to it though.**

**DISCLAIMER: the plot belings to the creators of Safe Haven.. at least most of it does, if not all. the characters, again most if not all, belong to the creators of wicked.**

She knew she had to run. He would hurt her again, this time worse, if he caught her. And no one would believe her side the story. No. not when he was an officer in the gale force. One of the most respected officers of the Emerald City. They saw him as a great man of justice, who always caught the bad guys. He was, actually. That was why she'd fallen for him and married him. But no one knew about his dark side. He was a violent drunk. And he got drunk nearly every night. And tonight, Averic ten meadows had nearly suffocated Elphaba.

She took refuge in one of the houses down the street. An old Goat, doctor Dillimond lived there with his aging wife. She looked at him as a father figure, hers having been a poor excuse for one. But Dillimond and his wife had always been willing to give her advise or help her if she needed it. And now she definitely needed help.

"my goodness, child, what has happened. How did blood get on your hands? Come inside and get cleaned up. My husband you know where the bathroom is. My husband and I will be down the hall," allemandes wife said. She had remained calm, but the sight of so much blood on the young woman's hands and clothes concerned Mrs. dillimond. She knew the young woman had been hiding something, and both the Goats suspected it had to do with Averic. They knew the young gale force officer had a drinking problem. He had since before he was old enough to drink legally.

"tell us what happened, dear," Mrs. dillimond said softly, relieved to see that none of the blood remained on the girl in front of her.

"he was drunk again. He tried to strangle me. I was only trying to protect myself."

"what did you do" doctor dillimond asked gravely.

"there was a knife nearby. I was just able to reach it. I stabbed him in the side. Averic will live, but he will be down for a couple of days. I hope. I have to get out of here."

"you should never have married that man.'

"I know. I'm afraid if I bring up divorce, though, that he'll do something even worse. that's why I have to leave. I have to try to escape him."

"we know. We can help you. Stay here for the night, and we'll get some things ready for you. Do you know where you'll go?"

"someplace quiet. Slow. Peaceful. I'll get away from the city."

"Munchkin land has no real cities. The closest it comes is center munch. And that town doesn't even have a sixth of the population that we do here. And there are plenty of small towns on the way there, as well. All along the yellow brick road. And although its mostly flatland, the corn fields have a calming effect. Beautiful sunsets. Its so peaceful."

" that sounds wonderful. A new start."

"Like we told you, you can stay here for a day or so. We'll prepare you for the trip. Give you some money. Get you some new clothes. If only we could make you less noticeable. Your skin is beautiful, but it stands out too well. No matter. No one will think of finding you in Munchkin land."

"I cant take your money."

"nonsense, girl. We have plenty. More than we need. An you will be needing a place to stay, food to eat, and a few more outfits once you find a place."

"thank you."

The next day the two goats went out to get everything arranged for her departure. They didn't want to risk her running into any of Averic's fellow officers. Especially if the knife had injured him more than they thought. It was a fairly simple task to get her some clothes. Mrs. dillimond chose light colored clothing, as she knew the young woman normally wore black. It would help disguise her more easily. She bought some gloves, though it as never really that cold, so she could hide her hands, and a few new cloaks. Doctor dillimond got a large sum of money from his and his wife's savings. They had plenty saved up, and with no children or grandchildren of their own, it would end up staying there until their deaths anyway. He also bought her a bus ticket, so she wouldn't have to wait in the lines at the terminal.

"this is all too much," she said upon receiving everything.

"oh hush. You always help others in the neighborhood when possible. You care more about the young Animals than any other humans. Its time some of us repaid you. You will be missed here, but its not safe for you. We'll be taking you down to the bus terminal tonight. After its dark."

"you make sure you call us when you are safe, okay?" Mrs. dillimond said. The young woman nodded in response. She hugged the two goats, thanking them for everything. Then disappeared into the crowd.

"Goats, who did you just send off," a voice said behind them. Doctor dillimond turned, instinctively knowing who it was.

"officer ten meadows," he greeted. "we were just seeing a friend off. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"If they committed a crime, like attacking someone, it is. Tell me, who is it."

"just another friend. I don't know why you are so interested," mrs. Dillimond said innocently. Averic growled in annoyance, and left them, intending to follow the figure through the crowd. He had a feeling in his gut it was his wife. The crowd was too thick, though and he lost her. He thanked the unnamed god he had a picture with him of just her. He could use his position as gale force officer to make people tell him the truth.

Averic lashed the picture to people through the crowd, asking people if they'd seen her, but the answer was no. he decided to search the busses about to depart, and flashed his badge at the first one he reached. For a split second he thought luck was on his side, for he saw someone in the back wearing the same red cloak he'd seen the person with the Dillimonds wearing earlier. But when he reached her, it was just a middle aged woman. He tried two more busses with no luck, and was about to go to the next one, but it pulled off before he could search it. He continued his search, hoping that she hadn't been lucky enough to get on the one bus he'd missed.

Lucky for her, she had managed to get on that one bus. She'd heard his voice and nearly bolted. Luckily, the dillimonds had stalled long enough for her to get away, and she was now on her way to munchkin land. She wanted to take off the heavy cloak she'd been wearing, but she knew it wasn't yet safe to do that. She fell asleep, hoping that no one would decide to sit next to her. That would make her face too easy to see.

"miss? We are making a fifteen minute stop in bright Lettins," the driver said the next morning. She was shocked that she'd slept through the night. She thanked the driver, thanking whatever deity existed that he hadn't seen her face, and gathered her bags then got off the bus. Bright lettins was a small town. The bus took up nearly the whole road, but there were hardly any cars anyway. She saw a couple pass by the small store they were at, but none of the cars stopped, which made the gas pump seem useless. She went inside to buy herself something to drink and eat, and was greeting by a handsome man at the register.

"can I get you anything else?" He asked in a warm voice.

"no thank you," she said quietly. She tried not to look at his handsome features too much. The curled black hair, his nicely tanned skin with a couple of blue tattoos that might have been diamonds peeking out from underneath the collar of his short, or the finely tuned muscles. But it was difficult. Until she reminded herself about Averic. Then she sobered up.

"okay then. that's three dollars," he said, smiling as her. She rummaged around in her bags, trying to find her money. She'd put it in the very bottom of one of them, and in the process, her hood came off. She quickly put it back on, but knew the man had seen her face. Had seen her skin.

"sorry," she said, putting a five dollar bill down on the counter. "keep the change."

"daddy," a voice said, and the man was distracted for a moment as a little girl came running to him, giving him a hug. The little girl who the voice belonged to looked at her for a moment, and she decided to leave while she could. Before she left, she heard the little girl say, "daddy, did that lady have green skin?"

"hush, Nor, that's not nice. Everyone is different," she heard the man respond before the door closed behind her.

"last call for boarding the bus to center munch. Last call," she heard the driver shout. She took a look around her. It was calm here. Peaceful. She could start over in this little town. Get a job at the farmers market, or the café she saw as she looked around. She watched the bus driver get on, and close the doors. Then the bus left.

For an hour she walked around the town, taking it in and looking for a place to stay. She found a realtor who had a small house about a half mile outside of the town that was for sale, but it hadn't been very well kept up with in the last few years. But it was cheap, it had electricity, a roof, and it came furnished. And the furnishings weren't actually that bad. The bed frame was still intact, though the mattress obviously would need replacing. There was a bookshelf, a couch, and a small dining table. She also noted that the appliances looked fairly new.

" it's a fixer upper, but its good if you're just starting out," the realtor was saying. Elphaba asked how old the appliances were. "the refrigerator was brought in a few months ago to try and sell the house quicker. The stove was new when the house went on the market a few years ago after its original owner died of a heart attack. He had no family, so the government took it. that's part of the reason its so cheap. As well as its not in the best state. We have better houses on the market, but considering you are just suddenly relocating, and you said you wanted a quiet place, I figured I would show it to you. You don't have any close neighbors. Its just outside the town, so its far enough away where you wont be bothered, but close enough for convenience."

Elphaba looked around the small house. It looked more like a cottage where some one would spend a week camping and hunting. The realtor was right. It was a fixer upper, but she found that she didn't quite mind. It would keep her busy, and she could do what she wanted with the place. The floors creaked under her feet as she walked around, the realtor waiting patiently. She walked out onto the front porch and looked at the surroundings. The house was in a small wood, which was rare in itself in munchkin land. The province consisted of mostly farmland. She could hear the flowing water of a brook nearby.

"I hear water flowing somewhere in the woods."

"ah yes, there's a tributary of the Munchkin River nearby. Lost of wildlife will pass by, if you like that sort of thing. On their way to the river. The tributary is fed by pool of water with a spring." the realtor paused, watching the woman in front of her look at the surroundings. "I can bring you to another place, if you would prefer something closer to town and better maintained."

"oh no, I love it," she said. "it'll give me something to do with my time. Fixing the place up. It has potential."

"okay," the realtor said, surprised. "lets go back to the office and we can get the financing papers taken care of."

An hour later, Elphaba stood outside her new home. The dillimonds had given her enough to pay for the house in full, but it would have looked suspicious. So she settled for a five year payment plan. She was concerned about staying in one place that long, but she figured it was such a small town, she would hear about any gale force coming in fairly quickly. And then she would leave. She hoped she wouldn't have to, though. She actually liked the place. She spent the rest of the day figuring out what needed fixing. She wanted to get some paint, but she wasn't sure what color yet. Finally, a few hours after night set in, her flight caught up to her, and she fell asleep.

ur document here...


End file.
